From: Secretary ACS DCHAS <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] CHAS Tweets and Chemical Safety headlines (14 articles)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 07:56:18 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 03AF05B8-C040-4B1F-92E0-FA119E513B58**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


**At_Symbol_Here**ACSDCHAS and **At_Symbol_Here**LabSustain tweets and Chemical Safety Headlines
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
Tweets available on our ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety (DCHAS) Facebook Page
Tagged Article summaries are available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

acsdchas ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable and Rutgers University's "Catalysis in Green Chemistry Symposium http://t.co/8TuMqwRjyM

labsustain Int J Occ Health: War on Carcinogens: Industry Disputes Human Relevance of Chemicals Causing Cancer http://t.co/Ol5bOXIyls

acsdchas Int J Occ Health Working conditions and environmental exposures among electronic waste workers in Ghana http://t.co/S1jfArUBVV

acsdchas ES&T: Solution Chemistry and the Release of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes from Silica Surfaces http://t.co/OjwERZ14Mf http://t.co/jhhvUTj6K1

JChemHealthSafe The Sep/Oct issue of JCHAS now up on **At_Symbol_Here**sciencedirect **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

labsustain ES&T: Co-control of Local Air Pollutants and CO2 in the Chinese Iron and Steel Industry t http://t.co/RghJXoAsXD http://t.co/p3fqJ0jCNS

acsdchas C&EN SafetyZone blog: New OSHA tools for controlling chemical exposure http://t.co/C5xyiVfB6Z

labsustain RT **At_Symbol_Here**cornellsun: Cornell Students‰??Talk Going Green for Campus Sustainability Day http://t.co/yHWGAW3fOZ

labsustain RT **At_Symbol_Here**GreenHarvard: Ireland's Green Party Leader **At_Symbol_Here**EamonRyan delivers a 'can-do message on clean energy' http://t.co/lbqBGBcnLH

acsdchas Three more people die after lab blast in South Africa http://t.co/0ss6vXR7J8

acsdchas J Chem Ed: Making Hands-On Science Learning Accessible for Students Who Have Low Vision http://t.co/g0K36wTKiS http://t.co/vgZntcYcPw

labsustain Cornell: Gold-plated nano-bits find, destroy cancer cells http://t.co/tH7Pqt42DQ

acsdchas C&EN: Peer Review Hit Hard By Shutdown: Grantees in limbo and rushed reviews raise concerns http://t.co/d8Q8VUl8yB

acsdchas Constructing Tunable Nanopores and Their Application in Drug Delivery - ACS Nanohttp:/ http://t.co/OyshSyHnQZ http://t.co/QNZFGKiGuU

labsustain ES&T: Solution Chemistry and the Release of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes from Silica Surfaces http://t.co/UGDw6yf835 http://t.co/hoy0CpN0Fp

labsustain J Chem Ed: Deep Thinking. What Lectures Are Useful For http://t.co/Ahdf3cU8OY

labsustain ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable and Rutgers University's "Catalysis in Green Chemistry Symposium http://t.co/fKyVB4AScH

acsdchas Be Critical but Fair - ACS Nano (ACS Publications) http://t.co/dq7bRtK8Xg http://t.co/B3kfaisJdX

labsustain C&EN: Smaller Hole In The Ozone Layer http://t.co/dRH1P2ci22

acsdchas ACS GCI Communicating Sustainability in the Bio-Based Chemical Industry http://t.co/aaF4vtIJaH


Table of Contents (14 articles)

CHLORINE LEAK CONTAINED AT SEVEN SPRINGS TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, water_treatment

DRILLING SPILL DAMAGES HOUSE, ENTERS W.VA. CREEK
Tags: us_WV, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical

PETERSBURG INDUSTRIAL FIRE INJURES TWO, INCLUDING FIREFIGHTER
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, injury, acids

COPS: 24 TREATED AT HOSPITAL AFTER PEPPER SPRAY EXPOSURE AT UNIONDALE SCHOOL
Tags: us_NY, education, release, injury, pepper_spray

GREENSPACE: FIRMS ACT ON PROBLEM CHEMICALS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

CHEMICAL GIANT DUPONT SUED BY CANCER SUFFERERS
Tags: us_WV, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

EARLY MORNING HORROR AS VILLAGERS WAKE UP TO CHEMICAL FUMES
Tags: Sri_Lanka, industrial, release, response, ammonia

KIDS HOSPITALIZED AFTER CARBON MONOXIDE LEAKS IN ICE SKATING RINK
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide

CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT CAUSES FIRE AT OAK RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_TN, laboratory, fire, response, waste

EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL SHUTS DOWN CHEMICAL ROUNDUP
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, explosives, picric_acid, time-sensitive

LSB INDUSTRIES RECEIVES $113 MILLION INSURANCE SETTLEMENT FOR ARKANSAS PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: us_AR, industrial, follow-up, environmental, nitric_acid

ROADS CLOSED FOR HOURS IN MERAUX FOR HAZMAT CLEANUP
Tags: us_LA, transportation, release, environmental, other_chemical

TRUCK MISHAP SPILLS CHEMICALS ON ARROWHEAD ROAD
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

PROTECTING CHEMICAL INDUSTRY WORKERS
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical


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CHLORINE LEAK CONTAINED AT SEVEN SPRINGS TREATMENT PLANT
http://www.dailyamerican.com/news/local/somerset/chlorine-leak-contained-at-seven-springs-treatment-plant/article_7cbdaf6e-3f74-11e3-8668-001a4bcf6878.html
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, water_treatment

A leak from a 100-gallon chlorine tank at the Seven Springs water treatment plant was contained Sunday morning.
The plant operator was transported to Somerset hospital by Markleysburg ambulance, according to Somerset County Control.
He called 911 to report the leak and complained of dizziness. Somerset County Hazardous Materials Response Team and Seven Springs and New Centerville fire departments responded to the scene at 8:21 a.m. The leak was contained at 9:39 a.m.

---------------------------------------------

DRILLING SPILL DAMAGES HOUSE, ENTERS W.VA. CREEK
http://www.dailymail.com/News/201310270052
Tags: us_WV, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical

VALLEY GROVE, W.Va. -- State regulators are investigating spills from a drilling operation in Ohio County that damaged a house and entered a creek.

More than 6,000 gallons of water and a non-toxic clay mixture called drilling mud from a MarkWest operation entered the basement of Becky and John Wieczorkowski's house in Valley Grove last week, media outlets reported.

Drilling mud from the operation also entered Little Wheeling Creek twice last week Department of Environmental Protection. About 30 fish, mostly minnows, died, spokesman Tom Aluise told The Intelligencer and Wheeling-News Register (http://bit.ly/HnljH2">http://bit.ly/HnljH2 ).

The drilling operation, which crossed under the creek and U.S. 40, is part of MarkWest's pipeline infrastructure in Ohio County. Aluise said that the drilling mud infiltrated natural fractures in the rock and entered the creek.

"It happens," he said. "In the industry they call it inadvertent return."

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PETERSBURG INDUSTRIAL FIRE INJURES TWO, INCLUDING FIREFIGHTER
http://www.wric.com/story/23800375/petersburg-industrial-fire-injures-two-including-firefighter
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, injury, acids

PETERSBURG, Va - A fire in Petersburg at a metal plant sends two to the hospital with acid related injuries. It happened around 8:15pm Saturday evening on the 3500 block of Halifax Rd in Petersburg at the Valmont Coating Virginia Galvanizing.

Fire official tell us that it took about an hour to get the fire under control, and that the damage is mostly to the front of the building. A firefighter was injured when some of the chemicals, that were in the containers that were on fire, splashed into the firefighters eyes. In addition an employee that was in the building had some chemical burns to the feet, both were transported to Southside Regional Medical Center with minor injuries and are expected to be released today.

No other employees were in the facility at the time and Hazmat teams did clear the area of any dangerous material. The fire is currently under investigation.

---------------------------------------------

COPS: 24 TREATED AT HOSPITAL AFTER PEPPER SPRAY EXPOSURE AT UNIONDALE SCHOOL
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/cops-24-treated-at-hospital-after-pepper-spray-exposure-at-uniondale-school-1.6306651
Tags: us_NY, education, release, injury, pepper_spray

Twenty students and four faculty members were taken to a hospital Wednesday for eye and throat irritation after a student at a Uniondale elementary school dispensed pepper spray in a school hallway, Nassau County police said.
A Nassau police spokeswoman said a 10-year-old student who released the peppery substance in a basement hallway at Northern Parkway Elementary School some time around 11:10 a.m. was among the students transported for treatment.
It's not clear whether the incident was accidental.
"The school was immediately evacuated, and school officials immediately contacted the Nassau County Police Department, local volunteer fire department and HAZMAT units to the school" following the incident, Uniondale Union Free School District Superintendent William Lloyd said in a statement.

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GREENSPACE: FIRMS ACT ON PROBLEM CHEMICALS
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/science/20131027_GreenSpace__Xyxkxyk_xxy_xkyx_kxy_xky_xkykykx.html
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

Three major U.S. companies took steps recently to replace problematic chemicals with safer ones in consumer products.

Environmental and health advocates are cheering, predicting that the changes will ripple outward and help reshape the market, potentially transforming thousands of cleaning, personal care, and baby products.

They say it will greatly increase the safety of the things we spray and spread on ourselves and in our homes.

So, as with many things of late, while Congress dithers - in this case, over reform of chemical safety laws that even the industry says is long overdue - the rest of the country moves ahead, even if it's in piecemeal fashion.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL GIANT DUPONT SUED BY CANCER SUFFERERS
http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/chemical-giant-dupont-sued-by-cancer-sufferers/story-fnda1bsz-1226747587843
Tags: us_WV, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

NINE Ohio and West Virginia residents who have cancer and other diseases have filed federal lawsuits this month against chemical giant DuPont, alleging the company knowingly contaminated drinking-water supplies with a chemical used by one of its plants.
The lawsuits, filed October 8 and this week, are among about 50 such cases - including one alleging wrongful death - filed against DuPont since April, when a court-appointed science panel found probable links between exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8, and kidney cancer, testicular cancer and thyroid disease, among others.

DuPont, based in Wilmington, Delaware, uses C8 at its plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia, on the Ohio line but plans to stop making and using the chemical by 2015. C8 is a key ingredient in Teflon, the coating used on cookware, clothing and other products.

The recent litigation is the latest in a yearslong battle between DuPont and residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley, in the heart of Appalachia along the Ohio River.

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EARLY MORNING HORROR AS VILLAGERS WAKE UP TO CHEMICAL FUMES
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/131027/news/early-morning-horror-as-villagers-wake-up-to-chemical-fumes-67207.html
Tags: Sri_Lanka, industrial, release, response, ammonia

‰??In the early hours of Tuesday (October 22) we were woken by neighbours who were banging on our door and windows and


K.D.A. Aruna: This is not the first time
shouting for us to come out. When my husband opened the door the house was filled with smoke and a strong smell and we began to choke,‰?? 23-year-old Samanthika Priyadharshani said.


Leaves had withered and turned yellow. Pix by Ranjith Perera
It was 2.30 a.m. and residents of Batakeththara-Piliyandala began to panic as fumes accompanied by a strong odour from a detergents producing factory in the vicinity began to spread.

It was later revealed that it was an ammonia gas leak from the factory that produces hand wash, car wash and other detergent for the export market.

---------------------------------------------

KIDS HOSPITALIZED AFTER CARBON MONOXIDE LEAKS IN ICE SKATING RINK
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Kids-Hospitalized-After-Carbon-Monoxide-Leaks-in-Ice-Skating-Rink-229394381.html
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide

Several children were taken to the hospital after carbon monoxide leaked inside an ice skating rink.

EMS workers were called to the Ice Land Skating Center in Hamilton Township around 10 a.m. on Saturday after children at the rink became sick.

The Fire Department soon arrived at the scene and detected high levels of carbon monoxide. The building was evacuated and seven children were taken to the hospital and treated for symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

While officials have not yet revealed the conditions of the children, they also say their symptoms are not life-threatening.

A Hazmat team searched through the building and found a damaged hot water heater. The heater was likely the source of the carbon monoxide, according to officials.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT CAUSES FIRE AT OAK RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/oak-ridge-anderson/2013/10/26/chemistry-fire-at-orhs/3236655/
Tags: us_TN, laboratory, fire, response, waste

Just before nine p.m. on Friday firefighters arrived at Oak Ridge High School after janitors called about a fire in a chemistry classroom.

According to to a press release, firefighters entered the smoke-filled-room and determined the fire started in a flame-resistant trashcan. They used a dry-chemical fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

Fire Chief Darryl Kerley says it appears to be an accidental fire caused by waste from an chemistry experiment earlier in the day.

There were no injuries and no damage to the school.

---------------------------------------------

EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL SHUTS DOWN CHEMICAL ROUNDUP
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/361963/346/Explosive-chemical-shuts-down-chemical-roundup
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, explosives, picric_acid, time-sensitive

AURORA - The Aurora Fire Department had to shut down an annual chemical roundup Saturday, because a man brought in crystallized picric acid.

Picric acid can be as dangerous as dynamite when it crystallizes.

The Aurora Fire Department says nobody was injured.

The bomb squad and the Aurora Fire Department will move the chemical to a safe place to blow it up.

This roundup day was rescheduled after the September floods and it is uncertain whether or not the day will be rescheduled again.

---------------------------------------------

LSB INDUSTRIES RECEIVES $113 MILLION INSURANCE SETTLEMENT FOR ARKANSAS PLANT EXPLOSION
http://newsok.com/lsb-industries-receives-113-million-insurance-settlement-for-arkansas-plant-explosion/article/3897723
Tags: us_AR, industrial, follow-up, environmental, nitric_acid

A May 2012 explosion caused extensive damage to a concentrated nitric acid plant at LSB's chemical operations in El Dorado, Ark. The company is using the insurance settlement proceeds to build an updated nitric acid plant.

---------------------------------------------

ROADS CLOSED FOR HOURS IN MERAUX FOR HAZMAT CLEANUP
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Roads-closed-in-Meraux-for-hazmat-cleanup-229305491.html
Tags: us_LA, transportation, release, environmental, other_chemical

ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. -- St. Bernard Highway from Jacob Drive in Chalmette to Munster Drive in Meraux was shut down to traffic for hours because of a hazmat situation.
A Valero plant spokeswoman says around 2:30 p.m. a "small amount of oil" released from the crude unit at the facility and spilled on to the highway. According to the sheriff's office, the highway reopened around 8:30 p.m.
A plug on a pipeline running across St. Bernard Highway failed, according to State Police, causing the spill. Crews used sand to clean up the spill.

---------------------------------------------

TRUCK MISHAP SPILLS CHEMICALS ON ARROWHEAD ROAD
http://www.waxahachietx.com/news/ellis_county/chemical-spill-from-tanker/article_2a933a35-5624-5da0-97d2-87b7f81f7bf5.html
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

A tanker truck traveling along Arrowhead Road from Magnablend Thursday night spilled around 30-35 gallons of the chemical Guar Slurry.
Guar is a bean grown in India and is an ingredient in numerous commercial products ranging from dish soap to fracking fluid.
The spill happened at the intersections of Farm-to-Market Road 1446 and Arrowhead Road.
Ellis County Emergency Management Coordinator Joe Stewart received the call about the spill at 7:26 p.m. Upon arriving members of the Ellis County Sheriff‰??s Office were already on scene.

---------------------------------------------

PROTECTING CHEMICAL INDUSTRY WORKERS
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/web/2013/10/Protecting-Chemical-Industry-Workers.html
Tags: public, discovery, response, other_chemical

Federal regulators are asking employers to voluntarily boost safeguards for workers exposed to hazardous chemicals. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration warns that many current federal limits on chemical exposure in the workplace are insufficient.
OSHA launched an initiative on Oct. 24 that offers guidance to businesses about substituting safer substances for more hazardous substances and sets voluntary exposure limits for hazardous chemicals to levels lower than federal standards. By taking such action, the agency says, companies will reduce worker illness and death that could result from OSHA‰??s outdated permissible exposure limits (PELs) for chemicals. Most of those federal limits date back to the 1970s.
‰??Many of OSHA‰??s chemical standards are not adequately protective,‰?? says David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. ‰??Simply complying with OSHA‰??s antiquated PELs will not guarantee that workers will be safe.‰?? OSHA updated hundreds of its chemical limits simultaneously in 1989, but a federal court struck them down in 1992 and reinstated the original ones. The ruling left the agency to modernize PELs one at a time through a cumbersome process. Most remain unchanged.
To help businesses improve protections for workers in the face of this situation, OSHA unveiled a new website to help employers make informed decisions about switching away from hazardous substances. ‰??The most efficient and effective way to protect workers from hazardous chemicals is by eliminating or replacing those chemicals with safer alternatives whenever possible,‰?? Michaels says.

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